listening for the Spirit

Good evening friends,
Today's passage continues Jesus' discussion with his disciples at the last supper. He promises that he will send the Holy Spirit to guide them. He thinks the Spirit is so important that the disciples are better off with the Holy Spirit than with Jesus himself. Still, sometimes we forget that we have the Holy Spirit with us. As we learn to listen for the Spirit more, we will find guidance for life and joy in our faith. Try to pay attention for the Spirit's whisper. The more you cultivate a prayerful heart, the easier it will be to hear the Spirit speaking.

God bless,
Sam

John 15:26-16:15

²⁶”When the Advocate comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who comes from the Father, he will testify on my behalf. ²⁷You also are to testify because you have been with me from the beginning.

”I have said these things to you to keep you from stumbling. ²They will put you out of the synagogues. Indeed, an hour is coming when those who kill you will think that by doing so they are offering worship to God. ³And they will do this because they have not known the Father or me. ⁴But I have said these things to you so that when their hour comes you may remember that I told you about them. “I did not say these things to you from the beginning, because I was with you. ⁵But now I am going to him who sent me; yet none of you asks me, ‘Where are you going?’ ⁶But because I have said these things to you, sorrow has filled your hearts.

⁷Nevertheless I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you. ⁸And when he comes, he will prove the world wrong about sin and righteousness and judgment: ⁹about sin, because they do not believe in me; ¹⁰about righteousness, because I am going to the Father and you will see me no longer; ¹¹about judgment, because the ruler of this world has been condemned. ¹²“I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. ¹³When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth; for he will not speak on his own, but will speak whatever he hears, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. ¹⁴He will glorify me, because he will take what is mine and declare it to you. ¹⁵All that the Father has is mine. For this reason I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you.

preparing for persecution

Good morning sisters and brothers,
I have one quick question, and I hate to bother everyone with it, but my memory isn't helping me out. I'm short two copies of The Shack from the group study pack I borrowed from the Webster Library. If anyone has one of those, it would really help me to have it back.

Today Jesus continues his warning to the disciples that they will be strongly opposed by religious people because of his message. He also says that he didn't give them such clear warnings before because he was with them. He's really preparing them carefully for a different phase in their lives. They will be guided by the Holy Spirit, but they will have to discern the way forward without him. He sees that this makes them sad, even though they still don't quite understand.

I think often we feel like the disciples do. We wish we just had Jesus around to show us the way. The truth is that while we can look forward to Christ's return, between his words, the Holy Spirit and the community of faith we have all that we need to be faithful. We can trust Jesus, trust ourselves, trust the Spirit and trust the community. Then we can boldly follow Jesus in this challenging world we live in.

Friday blessings,
Sam

John 16:1-6

”I have said these things to you to keep you from stumbling. 2They will put you out of the synagogues. Indeed, an hour is coming when those who kill you will think that by doing so they are offering worship to God. 3And they will do this because they have not known the Father or me. 4But I have said these things to you so that when their hour comes you may remember that I told you about them. “I did not say these things to you from the beginning, because I was with you. 5But now I am going to him who sent me; yet none of you asks me, ‘Where are you going?’ 6But because I have said these things to you, sorrow has filled your hearts.

the mind of Christ

Good morning friends,
Today's reading from Paul is challenging. The essence of the reading is what God is doing in us through the Holy Spirit. He says that people can only know what it means to be truly human because of the human spirit inside them. That means that all people can figure out human nature if we spend the time and attention to get in touch with our spirit. Christians still have that human spirit, but we also have the Holy Spirit from God. It's as if God gives us a partial "spirit transplant" by putting some of the Spirit of God into us. Because of that new Spirit, not only can we get in touch with our true humanity by paying attention to the human spirit inside us, we can also get in touch with who God is and what God wants by paying attention to the Holy Spirit inside us.

Paul continues the same line of thought in terms of spiritual gifts, because God gives gifts to all of us. Here we see that not only Christians, but all people have gifts of the Spirit. The thing is, without paying respectful attention to the Spirit of God inside us, we can't receive those gifts because we won't understand what's going on. Also, by paying attention to the Spirit of God inside us and seeking to obey God's will we grow in that Spirit and become more spiritually mature. We also start to become more like Christ, developing Christ's mind, as Paul says. So spend some time getting in touch with God's Spirit inside you. Let the Spirit shape you and guide you, and God will make you more like Jesus.

God bless,
Sam


1 Corinthians 2:8-16

8None of the rulers of this age understood this; for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. 9But, as it is written, “What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the human heart conceived, what God has prepared for those who love him”— 10these things God has revealed to us through the Spirit; for the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God. 11For what human being knows what is truly human except the human spirit that is within? So also no one comprehends what is truly God’s except the Spirit of God. 12Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit that is from God, so that we may understand the gifts bestowed on us by God.


13And we speak of these things in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual things to those who are spiritual. 14Those who are unspiritual do not receive the gifts of God’s Spirit, for they are foolishness to them, and they are unable to understand them because they are spiritually discerned. 15Those who are spiritual discern all things, and they are themselves subject to no one else’s scrutiny. 16“For who has known the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?” But we have the mind of Christ.

The Spirit's warnings

Good evening friends,
Sorry for getting this out so late today; I just forgot to do it before I left the house this morning. This reading continues Paul’s conversation with the elders from Ephesus. Here his sense of the future comes into focus clearly. He faces uncertainty, but by the Spirit he expects to face persecution and imprisonment. He faces the situation with faith, hoping that God will keep him faithful in the trials he will face.

He uses his visit not only to remind them of his example but also to tell them that since his race is almost run it is time for them to step up in leadership. He reminds them of their commission to oversee Christ’s flock that has been committed to their care. I pray when God sends us trials we would face them with the courage and faith Paul shows here.

God bless,
Sam

Acts 20:22-28

22And now, as a captive to the Spirit, I am on my way to Jerusalem, not knowing what will happen to me there, 23except that the Holy Spirit testifies to me in every city that imprisonment and persecutions are waiting for me. 24But I do not count my life of any value to myself, if only I may finish my course and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the good news of God’s grace.

25“And now I know that none of you, among whom I have gone about proclaiming the kingdom, will ever see my face again. 26Therefore I declare to you this day that I am not responsible for the blood of any of you, 27for I did not shrink from declaring to you the whole purpose of God. 28Keep watch over yourselves and over all the flock, of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God that he obtained with the blood of his own Son.

sent and opposed

Good morning brothers and sisters,
This is a strange little passage that gives us an interesting glimpse into the church. A few days ago we read that Saul and Barnabas were sent from Antioch to Jerusalem; in our reading today they are back in Antioch in worship. The Spirit calls the community to set them apart for a mission and they are promptly prayed for and sent. The image of the church as a network of believers with teachers moving from place to place to spread the message is a striking and compelling one.

In their ministry Saul and Barnabas meet someone who wants to learn more about God and a friend of his who wants to prevent that. We see Saul fix his gaze on the opponent and send temporary blindness on him. Of course, Saul knows about being blinded by God's power and we can hope that Bar-Jesus too will find God's light on the other end of that blindness. Certainly the man who initially wanted to hear God's word is strengthened in his faith by this display of power. Then Saul and Barnabas are back on their way, following the Spirit in new directions. May we hear where the Spirit is leading us today.
blessings,
Sam

Acts 13:1-13

Now in the church at Antioch there were prophets and teachers: Barnabas, Simeon who was called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen a member of the court of Herod the ruler, and Saul. 2While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.” 3Then after fasting and praying they laid their hands on them and sent them off.
4So, being sent out by the Holy Spirit, they went down to Seleucia; and from there they sailed to Cyprus. 5When they arrived at Salamis, they proclaimed the word of God in the synagogues of the Jews. And they had John also to assist them. 6When they had gone through the whole island as far as Paphos, they met a certain magician, a Jewish false prophet, named Bar-Jesus. 7He was with the proconsul, Sergius Paulus, an intelligent man, who summoned Barnabas and Saul and wanted to hear the word of God.

8But the magician Elymas (for that is the translation of his name) opposed them and tried to turn the proconsul away from the faith. 9But Saul, also known as Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, looked intently at him 10and said, “You son of the devil, you enemy of all righteousness, full of all deceit and villainy, will you not stop making crooked the straight paths of the Lord? 11And now listen—the hand of the Lord is against you, and you will be blind for a while, unable to see the sun.” Immediately mist and darkness came over him, and he went about groping for someone to lead him by the hand.

12When the proconsul saw what had happened, he believed, for he was astonished at the teaching about the Lord. 13Then Paul and his companions set sail from Paphos and came to Perga in Pamphylia. John, however, left them and returned to Jerusalem;

clean and unclean, part 2

Happy St. Patty's day all,
This morning's reading continues our story of Peter and Cornelius. After Peter's vision of a large sheet full of ritually unclean animals that God showed him along with the words, "Whatever God has made clean you must not call unclean" Cornelius's messengers arrive at the door. Notice when Peter gets to Cornelius's house he has made the connection God wanted him to make. The vision was only partly about food, the more important point is that God made people clean so we shouldn't consider anyone unclean. God calls everyone to discipleship and God calls us to welcome everyone.

One of the things I think is funny about this passage is that God is directing every part of this and the human actors are figuring it out as they go. Peter tells Cornelius, "God showed me this so when your men came I went. Do you mind telling me why you sent for me?" Cornelius replies, "God told me to send for you, I'm waiting to hear what God wants you to say." Neither person knows what is going to happen, but they have heard God's call and obeyed. They trust that since God is behind this something good will come out of the situation. I pray that I would have that same spirit and courage in my life, and I pray that you would to.
God bless,
Sam

Acts 10:19-33

19While Peter was still thinking about the vision, the Spirit said to him, “Look, three men are searching for you. 20Now get up, go down, and go with them without hesitation; for I have sent them.” 21So Peter went down to the men and said, “I am the one you are looking for; what is the reason for your coming?” 22They answered, “Cornelius, a centurion, an upright and God-fearing man, who is well spoken of by the whole Jewish nation, was directed by a holy angel to send for you to come to his house and to hear what you have to say.” 23So Peter invited them in and gave them lodging. The next day he got up and went with them, and some of the believers from Joppa accompanied him.

24The following day they came to Caesarea. Cornelius was expecting them and had called together his relatives and close friends. 25On Peter’s arrival Cornelius met him, and falling at his feet, worshiped him. 26But Peter made him get up, saying, “Stand up; I am only a mortal.” 27And as he talked with him, he went in and found that many had assembled; 28and he said to them, “You yourselves know that it is unlawful for a Jew to associate with or to visit a Gentile; but God has shown me that I should not call anyone profane or unclean. 29So when I was sent for, I came without objection. Now may I ask why you sent for me?”

30Cornelius replied, “Four days ago at this very hour, at three o”clock, I was praying in my house when suddenly a man in dazzling clothes stood before me. 31He said, ‘Cornelius, your prayer has been heard and your alms have been remembered before God. 32Send therefore to Joppa and ask for Simon, who is called Peter; he is staying in the home of Simon, a tanner, by the sea.’ 33Therefore I sent for you immediately, and you have been kind enough to come. So now all of us are here in the presence of God to listen to all that the Lord has commanded you to say.”